The Penn Stater Daily — Jan. 24, 2014

Putting it all out there: That seems to be the philosophy of James Franklin. Penn State’s new football coach hasn’t been seen much since his hiring (other than in Twitter photos of his many, many visits to recruits’ homes), but that’s about to change. On Friday morning, Franklin was scheduled to meet the media and introduce his new coaching staff (I’ll have more on that later, here and over at The Football Letter blog), a group that looks to be made up almost entirely of assistants who worked under him at Vanderbilt. The exception: Terry Smith ’91, the record-setting Nittany Lion receiver who spent last season on the staff of Matt Rhule ’97 at Temple. (Full disclosure: I was a freshman in the fall of ’91, and Terry—a diminutive, dynamic play-maker—was my favorite player. His No. 8 jersey remains the only Penn State jersey I ever bought. It’ll be very cool to see him back in Beaver Stadium.)

And on Thursday, Franklin announced a first-of-its-kind “Signature Event” on Wednesday, Feb. 5, to highlight his first Penn State recruiting class. The event will start at 6 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center, with tickets available for $5 and free admission for Penn State students. It promises to be unlike anything Penn State has seen before.

Getting caught up: Penn State professor Alan Derickson continues to get lots of attention for his new book on America’s defiant (and dangerous) attitude toward sleep. Canada’s Globe and Mail has a feature on Derickson’s new book, Dangerously Sleepy. And in case you missed our earlier coverage of Derickson’s research—the subject of an upcoming feature in our March/April issue—you can check it out here.

Friendly eyes in the skies: The rising use of drones understandably freaks out a lot of people, but it’s worth remembering that this remarkable technology can often be a force for good. The Patriot-News has a feature on Penn State researchers who are developing drones that will fly like birds and assist farmers in what’s described as “precision agriculture,” or aid in disaster relief. Suddenly, drones seem a little less scary.

Finally: The men’s basketball team got its first Big Ten win Thursday night, edging Nebraska, 58-54, at the BJC. The Nittany Lions had started 0-6 in conference play, their last winning coming against Mount St. Mary’s on Dec. 22—slightly more than a month ago. They’ve had a lot of close, tough losses in that span, so it was nice to see Patrick Chambers and his crew pull this one out. Hopefully it’s the start of a run.